The scream is longer tonight.

   Usually, there are pauses. But this time, it continues on and on that it becomes sort of like a continuous ringing of a doorbell. Perhaps, it is exactly like that; I have a visitor waiting at the door and I am unable to walk to go see who it is, to open the door and to stop the bell from ringing.

   I need to stop it even if that means I'll have to get out of bed and crawl.
   Brian is early today. His hair groomed upwards to the back, gelled, like a frozen wave, leaving his y forehead . He looks like he’s ready to go to the isle and marry some hot chick until you see his outfit of the day; a grey hoodie with the nerdy-glasses design, baggy trousers and a pair of brown sandals. Yeah, you can go ahead and face-palm.    He is standing awkwardly at the end of the bed, watching the doctor doing his daily check up on my broken leg. Whenever the doctor picks my leg up and not looking, I fake a look of pain at Brian just to see his funny, worried face and then try to contain my laughter for it.    “You have high moral, Mr Park.  It’s not everyday we see a patient who goes to the canteen by himself every afternoon.”    “Not by myself, Doctor. I have my best friend, Young K, here to help,” I tell him. Doctor Jung moves his face slightly to look at Brian and Brian puts on his awkward smile and gives him a nod that says, yes, I am the Young K he's talking about so nice to meet you, Your Highness. Then the doctor turns back to me as I continue talking, “And not every afternoon, Doctor. I’ve only been down there twice.”    The doctor’s mind is perhaps elsewhere at the moment as he replies, “A guy like you? Just twice? Yeah, right.”    Brian and I with wide eyes look at each other and then at the doctor who seems to not have realized that he just noted something inappropriate with a sarcastic tone. Even his voice shifted when he said it. He realizes his blunt after noticing the two of us staring at him and then, he coughs awkwardly, his grin from before transforms into a poker one, “Ah, is that so? But still, two days in a row is something to be proud of. It’s an achievement, nonetheless.”    Doctor Jung is only a few years older than me and is fairly attractive and young-looking. He's taller than Brian, perhaps as tall as me, his skin is a shade lighter than mine and his hair is as black as the night. His eyes are like two dots on a paper, pure and yet difficult to read, and he has thin lips which he constantly plays with by biting either the upper or lower one causing them to stay red and moist, always ready for a hot kiss.    “Anyways, you’ll be using crutches soon – but if you continue this tremendous spirit to heal, I think, really soon,” he declares, shocking me by cupping my face softly and smilingly. I see Brian flinch at the action from the corner of my eyes and I try my best to chuckle sincerely, thinking it as a joke. The scream is louder at that point.    When the doctor leaves, Brian takes a chair and sit right next to me, legs wide apart as though he’s about to make a deal with me. “I don't know whether I should hate him or not,” he starts, referring to Doctor Jung.    “Why should you hate him? He’s nice.” I'm not lying. Doctor Jung is nice but it’s just his previous show that makes me uncomfortable.    Brian stares at me, almost glaring. “I guess ‘hate’ is too strong of a word. How about ‘despise’?”    “Maybe he did that just so that I can be more motivated to get better. I mean like, if I can, I would like to learn how to walk using the crutches now so that I can get away from him ASAP.” I laugh a little but Brian is not persuaded.    He frowns.    “Okay, what’s wrong with you?”    For a few seconds, our eyes won't falter from each other. We are serious men who are trying to figure out the secrets of the universe. Suddenly, Brian gives up, sighing, “Nothing. I don't hate him.”    “Yes, you do. I can tell.”    “If you can tell that, then why haven't you noti-!” He cuts himself when he realizes his temper coming out through his tone and my face… I don't know what my face looks like to him but I know I am shocked and horrified. He breathes in and try to speak more calmly, “I don't want you to get ually harassed by a doctor... or anybody really.”    He looks away, ears flaming and cheeks burning. It can't be…    “AAAAAH!”    I must have shifted too quickly in front of Brian because when I open my eyes to see him, he is further away from me, clutching onto the handles of the seat. I have my hands covering my ears, to hold them intact, afraid that the scream just now would blow them up. My ears are warm and, possibly, red too. Brian is speechless; he doesn't understand what happened because he can’t hear it, the scream. Anonymous’ scream.     “Brian,” I call out to him. He doesn’t know what to do. He is petrified.    Worriedly, he responds, “Yes?” He pulls his seat closer to me again as though he’s about to hear the world’s most precious secret.    I tell him, trying to be as serious as I can, “I'm hungry.”    “What? Are you serious? You just ate an hour ago.” He fake-chuckles.    “An hour and a half – you weren't here, Brian.”    “That doesn't make any difference with ‘just ate’, darling.”    “I didn't eat,” I tell him, almost harshly. Brian is stunned. “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I'm feeling… unwell.”    The scream worsens. One of Brian’s brows raises.    “But the doctor says-!”